The present invention relates to a baling machine for cylindrical bales of crop.
Machines, towed by a tractor, for forming large cylindrical bales of hay (so called "round balers") are well-known. As the machines advances, the crop is removed from a windrow by a pickup mechanism and delivered rearwardly to a baling chamber where it is rolled into a bale.
There are basically two forms of such machines, namely those with a fixed volume baling chamber defined by driven fixed-position rolls and those with a baling chamber defined by runs of driven belts which move outwardly to enlarge the chamber to accommodate the bale as it grows in size. In both forms the hay is caused by the driven movement of the rolls or belts to roll around upon itself into a core and the core rotates about its horizontal axis and finally a completed bale is formed, the chamber being fed throughout with hay. The completed bale is tied with twine to maintain its shape and is discharged by rolling through a gate formed by a rear portion of the machine.
The gate is swingable about a horizontal pivot axis located at the top of the baler so that the gate moves rearwardly and upwardly from a closed position in which it is approximately vertical to a fully open position at an angle of about sixty degrees to the vertical at which the completed bale can pass freely under it.
At discharge, however, a bale can foul the gate if the latter is not sufficiently open before ejection starts. The rolling movement of the bale from the machine is then slowed and although the bale may nevertheless be discharged once the gate gains its fully open position, the bale tends not to roll away from the gate on reaching the ground. In these circumstances when the gate closes it will foul the bale lying below it, and so the baler has to be maneuvered to clear this obstruction before the gate can be shut with consequent loss of time in the harvesting operation.
In GB-A-No. 2 138 354 it has been proposed to provide a horizontal grid supporting the bale which is triggered to move to a downwardly inclined position immediately once opening of the gate has started. After discharge, an automatic signal indicates to the driver whether the bale is clear of the gate swing area. The grid extends far beyond the rear of the machine when the gate is closed so that the bale would probably be deposited sufficiently clear of the gate generally to enable closure without fouling. However, this adds significantly to the overall length of the machine, and a fully formed bale can still foul the gate during its opening phase.